As you may or may not have noticed there has been a new video battle report released. This one centres on the function and behaviour of siege battles and is a good indication of how these Japanese style sieges will play out.
Check it out;
Pretty interesting stuff, although I think the first battle report that was released got me more excited.
Let's analyse it a bit:
The battle map looks nice. I like the different approaches and the interesting scenery around the castle. I remember when I played the Road to Independence campaign on ETW and was blown away by some of the unique and downrightdevilish fort battle maps. (See here and here if you don't know what I'm talking about).
Hopefully there are some maps where these bridges and 'back routes' play a more significant role instead of just being for show as it felt in this one.
The Graphics weren't spectacular, and don't really hold up to the visuals we saw in the first Battle Report in any way so I suspect it is either being run on low or (at a stretch) medium settings. Chances are this is because the siege battles are still being debugged and optimised. I'm not concerned with the graphics at this stage because we've already seen videos of the water, weather and lighting effects.
On the AI: It sure was nice to see the two-pronged attack and then the third, more sneaky assault on the flank. I noticed also that the AI supported the two major assault groups with archers, something that I haven't seen before. Also the AI took it's time progressing through the castle, taking all of those strategical points and capturing the towers as they did so.
There was some 'blobbing' as Total War nuts call it, most notably during the large skirmish on the first tier where Kieran lost his Archers and then his General. Although the human player employed the exact same tactics.
I'm still a little sceptical that the AI was as good as the video tried to show. Kieran seemed to decline some tactical advantages and, if you notice the balance bar, is outskilled and outnumbered so a win would be difficult indeed.
I also noticed Kieran did not place his archers atop the wall fortifications and I can't help but wonder why. Surely this would have been a better defensive strategy? Either way in both ETW and NTW it was sluggish an awkward to place your men on the ramparts or behind walls and it looks like the cursor has improved.
A few other observations;
The units seemed to rout very quickly, especially the archers. I hope this is because they didn't want to show a 40 minute long battle report.
The enemy scaled the walls quickly and there was seemingly no way to stop them. This makes me question how useful the castle actually is if there are no chokepoints to defend - may as well be in an open field, no?
The Castle was a little barren, but I would happily take a barren castle with better pathfinding than one with plenty to look at but awful pathfinding.
At 6:25 when Kieran zoomed in on the combat there is noticeable slowdown. Again probably due to the optimising that is no doubt still being done.
At 11:52 there is a riderless horse. A nice atmospheric touch brought over from Napoleon.
The unit Banners seemed way too big for me and dominated the screen.
The General on the User Interface was pretty cool, and I think he changes - perhaps to his second in command - when he is killed.
The control points could add some interesting and fun tactical romps, something I thought Empire could have done with i.e. atop a hill.
I did notice some pathfinding issues. Most notably on the right flank when the archers were trying to pull back (approx 8:04). And while on the topic when Kieran tried to retreat his archers on the right flank they were sluggish and as a result were routed.
We've been told before that there will be a few different type of castle; Mountain, Plains and Coastal. I think it's safe to assume this is an example of a Mountain castle but I'm particularly intrigued about the Coastal one.
There were some comedy gems in there from Kieran, too. These in particular tickled me;
Links:
Watch in HD over at Gametrailershere.
Check out this picture that was released a few weeks ago on various websites such as Gamespot and IGN; Look familiar?
So, did I miss anything?
A f t y
A A R S
:: The Sun always rises in the East :: Flawless Crowns :: Dancing Days ::
"We kissed the Sun, and it smiled down upon us."
Check it out;
Pretty interesting stuff, although I think the first battle report that was released got me more excited.
The battle map looks nice. I like the different approaches and the interesting scenery around the castle. I remember when I played the Road to Independence campaign on ETW and was blown away by some of the unique and downright
Hopefully there are some maps where these bridges and 'back routes' play a more significant role instead of just being for show as it felt in this one.
The Graphics weren't spectacular, and don't really hold up to the visuals we saw in the first Battle Report in any way so I suspect it is either being run on low or (at a stretch) medium settings. Chances are this is because the siege battles are still being debugged and optimised. I'm not concerned with the graphics at this stage because we've already seen videos of the water, weather and lighting effects.
On the AI: It sure was nice to see the two-pronged attack and then the third, more sneaky assault on the flank. I noticed also that the AI supported the two major assault groups with archers, something that I haven't seen before. Also the AI took it's time progressing through the castle, taking all of those strategical points and capturing the towers as they did so.
There was some 'blobbing' as Total War nuts call it, most notably during the large skirmish on the first tier where Kieran lost his Archers and then his General. Although the human player employed the exact same tactics.
I'm still a little sceptical that the AI was as good as the video tried to show. Kieran seemed to decline some tactical advantages and, if you notice the balance bar, is outskilled and outnumbered so a win would be difficult indeed.
I also noticed Kieran did not place his archers atop the wall fortifications and I can't help but wonder why. Surely this would have been a better defensive strategy? Either way in both ETW and NTW it was sluggish an awkward to place your men on the ramparts or behind walls and it looks like the cursor has improved.
A few other observations;
We've been told before that there will be a few different type of castle; Mountain, Plains and Coastal. I think it's safe to assume this is an example of a Mountain castle but I'm particularly intrigued about the Coastal one.
There were some comedy gems in there from Kieran, too. These in particular tickled me;
"I'm trying to put the willies into the enemy – that's a british slang term, nothing sexual"
"The powerful magical balloons that they wear on their backs were no protection against moving projectiles"
Watch in HD over at Gametrailers
Check out this picture that was released a few weeks ago on various websites such as Gamespot and IGN; Look familiar?
A A R S
:: The Sun always rises in the East :: Flawless Crowns :: Dancing Days ::
"We kissed the Sun, and it smiled down upon us."